Day day in the life of me/potters

For most people the day starts off with the buzzing alarm, a shower, breakfast, then taxiing kids to school and heading off to work. For potters it seems that when the day started it was not this morning, but years ago when we first touched clay.

Potter's time is different.

Our day began years ago when we first looked at a pot and then wanted to learn to make it. Since then there has been no "morning ritual of normal working people" , it's more like a continuing cycle of never ending work and play. Whether it's day or night it doesn't matter because the pots, kilns and upcoming festivals just don't care about time. So with throwing, trimming, bisc firing, glazing, day after day, it all seems the same.

A typical day in my studio which usually starts in the wee morning hours is somewhat like this;

I awaken from a light sleep. I shove slippers on my feet so I can run out to studio and check the kilns. I notice that one of the kilns is almost up to temperature. After this observation I head back to my room to flop in the bed, forgetting to remove my slippers, and then proceed to lay awake wondering if the kiln has finally shut off or not? And because you are fretting about it, you won't go back to sleep until you get back up to make sure that it did finally reach temperature and shut off. Only then can you go back to bed and sleep pleasantly until the next kiln is getting close to shutting off. This pattern continues each night and accelerates with frequency when shows or festivals are approaching. The coffee starts brewing at around 4 or 5 am. Coffee, by definition, is a intravenous fluid that keeps potters alive. So while having my morning IV fluid, I begin doing my paperwork. Potters are well known multitaskers, because while paperwork is being filled out, your mind is making up a list of things you need to do today.

After the first pot of java is consumed you can better focus your eyes and you decide you better head out to the studio.

First things first. You need to either mix clay, throw pots or sit and stare....depending on how the caffeine is making your metabolism preform.

During the day it's a constant dance of loading and unloading kilns, glazing pots, and throwing pots. Between all of that, it is necessary to occasionally eat and answer phones. Which brings up another wonderful "gadget" that I have recently bought. A "big display" caller ID box. I've had other caller ID phones for years, but this one is special. It is a stand alone unit with a HUGE display that I can read from across the room. Now this "gadget" I truly believe is a vital "tool" for any potter, because when the phone rings you can look up from what you are doing, anywhere in the studio, and see if the caller is worth wiping your hands for. And believe me with so many telemarketers out there, most aren't.

So with the potters "day" explained in "not so explicit" detail, now I will tell you about my day. I make coffee, check email for orders, check kilns, drink more coffee, unpack cooled kiln, eat Cheerios, glaze pots, pour some more coffee, make list of what to throw, stare at wall, wedge clay, drink even MORE coffee, pack items to be shipped, make sure TV is on channel you want to listen to while throwing, cover last nights thrown pots with plastic bags to slow drying, stare at wall again...this time noticing it needs to be repainted, then get all tools and bats lined up so you can throw, wander around studio for awhile not remembering what you were looking for, answer phone and tell them AGAIN that they called the wrong number and this is NOT Ron's seafood, sit down at wheel, stare at the list of items you need to throw, get up from the wheel to feed cats who are pestering the crap out of you, go to bathroom, then finally sit down again and throw for the rest of the day. If you take this list and duplicate it for each day, you'll see what a studio day is like for me. And the funniest thing is I love it, absolutely love it and wouldn't change a thing. Maybe next time I'll have to write about a "festival day".